Why Do Doctors Hold Your Balls And Ask You To Cough?

We’re all about self-awareness here at the Ball Report, but you can’t discount the value of taking yourself to the doctors for a second opinion once in a while. If you’ve been to your family doc for a checkup in the last few years, you might remember him or her cupping your nutsack and asking you to cough for them. Have you ever wondered exactly what that’s looking for? Read on, friends, as we throw back the curtain for you.

Medical Daily has a great rundown on exactly what’s going on. It turns out that the ball-hold cough test is an easy way for doctors to sniff out hernias in your scrotum. A hernia is when the wall of your abdominal muscles tears, for a variety of reasons – exertion, injury or the like – and lets fat or your intestine sneak through into somewhere it’s not supposed to be.

Often times, you can feel a hernia happening on its own. The intestine will slowly inch its way into your scrotum, causing swelling and pain. But if it’s in the early stages, it can be difficult to detect. But coughing causes your scrotum and testes to tighten, getting rid of any slack down there and making it much easier to feel any abnormalities.

Obviously we’re primarily about early detection of testicular cancer here at the Ball Report, but that doesn’t mean we don’t want you to watch out for other things in your balls. In addition to hernias, this test can also aid in detecting swollen lymph nodes and, yes, cancer tumors. While you should be checking your boys once a month, don’t be afraid to let a medical professional get their hands down there once in a while too. Just make sure to cover your mouth when you cough. It’s only polite.